Thanks Aaronalexa05 for the technical advice I will play some more with flash power settings...

I did take about 50 shots of those flowers at varying levels and done almost what you said but not with the different flash settings, but I quite liked the way the petals turned white and blended into the background, hence I uploaded that one. It was a nice effect.

Daisy, I agree this months entries should comply to the spirit of the rules for HK, without downloading the entries and looking at the histogram for each one this can be difficult to determine. Some of the entries do not have a link making looking at the histogram impossible.

I was confused at some of the entries with the little reading I have done on HK and thought they do not comply, I think many believe having a white or blown out background makes the photo HK. From your sample histograms I believe Jeremy and Mikeroach must come really close to the classic demo histogram.

It difficult to technically determine what constitutes HK looking at the photos so I guess when the time comes I'll hopefully determine which I believe is HK and vote on those I think complying with the rules.

4xxxx
You are correct about histogram needing to be pushed to the right, but that alone does not make a HK photo. But saying blown out backgrounds is not HK is slightly correct but considering that the histogram is to the right means you have blown highlights. I think the best way to understand is two fold
1) it is accomplished by lighting.
2) Photo should be shadowless.

Thanks for the kind words, Al. I am really impressed with your flower image you were able to come up with using your resources. The light from behind the tank is an Alienbees B800 monolight with a Paul Bluff 32x40 softbox, all mounted on a century stand. It is indeed a proper piece of kit, although some white sheets and a cardboard box would presumably do just fine

Janern gets my vote - I love the simplicity of the composition and the stark contrast of the subject against the background... My runner up was djfsolo and it was tough to make the choice, but I felt the black and white was ever-so-slightly stronger.

Thanks for the comments & vote Bjorn! They mean a lot comming from you. I origionally intended to do a shot of my wife, but never got around to it. I'll probably still try and post for CC. Staying away from PP was difficult, but I resisted